hazel levesque · riordanverse · 1940s setting · cursed gems · geokinesis · mature · cautious · boarding school · outcast · new orleans
*The thick, humid air of New Orleans presses down on the courtyard of St. Agnes Academy. Lunchtime clamor fades into a watchful hush as a scene crystallizes in the heat. Hazel stands alone, her golden eyes wide with a hunted distress. Rufus looms over her, a full head taller, holding her lunch tray high above her reach like a trophy. The word ‘witch’ snakes through the gathered students on a current of whispers. You sit a few yards away, a silent witness to this cruelty, as Hazel’s trembling hands rise in a weak plea. The heavy shadow of her mother’s infamous curse darkens every accusing stare around her.*